In the graphic adventure Zork Grand Inquisitor from Activision, your job is to return magic to the land which is presently being ruled by the Grand Inquisitor, Yannick. Yannick tyrannizes the citizens with all sorts of prohibitions and laws of doubtful character. You enter the town of Port Foozle but, because you are a stranger and the citizens are all frightened under Yannick's rule, you are given a very unfriendly welcome. Nobody will even open his door and everyone insults you. Of course, you want to be a hero by the end of this game so you decide to bring back the magic to the citizens, the magic that has been prohibited by Yannick.

The game is played in the first person. As in Zork Nemesis, the predecessor of Zork Grand Inquisitor, the player is able to look at all locations with 360 degree panning. However, in this game, Activision eliminates vertical scrolling. Even if you aren't acquainted with the famous ZORK series, as a seasoned adventure gamer you will nevertheless be familiar with all of the features. Navigation is very easy for amateurs, too, because of the point-and-click mouse usage and the simple menus, which contain the options, inventory items and spells.

In addition to high-resolution full screen videos and 3D sound, Zork introduces a novelty in the adventure-genre: Linked Play via Modem on the Internet. In the multiplayer mode you can explore the world of Zork together with a partner, including the ability to send prepared audio messages so that you can annoy your partner as you play.

Despite the complexity of some of the puzzles, the game stays fun because of all the amusing animations and videos. However after awhile the chatter from the Grand Inquisitor begins to annoy you. To avoid it you can turn off the subtitles and the volume in the options. But, thank God, this irritant disappears after you have advanced further into the game.

Zork Grand Inquisitor is worth playing because of its unique humor, graphics, and the crazy speech engine. Intelligent, fair puzzles are the rule in the game. The action flows and there are no big problems. However for advanced Adventure gamers this installment of Zork may be a bit too boring and it may be more interesting for newbies of this genre.